Chapter Fifty-Eight: What lurks beneath the water -Part 1-
When they touched down on the shores of Kinkal the first thing Hiccup noticed was the hot dry air. It came with the wind that swirled hard around them, pushing them around and pulled at their hair and cloths.
He dismounted and walked a few feet through the hard gravel beach. The water looked metallic grey.
He shielded his eyes and looked upwards.
"Any suggestions how we want to get over that?"
In front of them, stretching along both sides of the beach, a giant, very upright practically vertical mountain range rose up into the clouds.
There were no trees. It was just a wall of stone at which the winds broke, scratched along and had, over the eons, formed its surface.
The beach was only a few feet wide and nothing but broke stones decorated it.
Hiccup put his hand against the smooth stone, slick from algae the tides. The water-level rose high above his head.
He imagined how the water rose up the wall when the flood came. Anything and anybody on the beach would be dragged into the sea and would drown.
And nothing could possible climb these walls.
What a cheery thought.
He turned around and looked at his friends. And George.
"Fly along the wall and see if it breaks somewhere?" Kate suggested. "Just fly up and see how far it is to the top and just go over it?" George said.
Hiccup was irritated. Had the guy actually made a suggestion how to solve their problem?
Well, there's always a first for everything.
"I don't know. What gives us the guaranty that this wall doesn't just continue? The flood will be here soon and if we don't find any shelter until them we'll be in trouble." Then he added: "This land is like a giant bath-tub standing in water. Nothing gets in and nothing gets out when the water comes."
"So we fly up their?" Josh asked, referring to George's suggestion.
"With those winds blowing over the top? If you want to die we can try. They will most probably smack us against the stone and we'll crash land on the beach."
"So what is the plan?" Kate asked and scratched Nightlight behind the ears. The dragoness purred and flapped her wings.
Hiccup looked back at the wall.
"What is the plan indeed?" He mumbled to himself.
He looked back at the sea and then said: "We maybe have two, with luck three hours until the flood has swallowed the whole beach. I say we split up. Josh, you take the left side and look for possible ways through or caves that are high up. Kate, you take George with you and you do the same on the right side." They nodded. "And what will you do?" Josh asked.
"Me? Oh, I'll go and kill myself. I will fly up there." Hiccup said and pointed skywards and to where the wall was swallowed by the thick clouds and where the wind raged with the forces of the ancient times.
A stupid idea? Yes. A reckless idea? No doubt there. Suicidal? Most definably. Necessary? Sadly.
The higher Toothless rose the more they both had to fight.
The prosthetics flattered in the strong currents of wind and Hiccup had trouble controlling it. Every so often they would make and involuntary left turn or plum down a few meters until they had caught themselves again.
To say his nerves were on edge would be an understatement.
They were thrown left and right and had a few close calls with the nice rocks.
He steered Toothless back down saying: "Not our case bud. Let's wait for the others."
He was standing knee-deep in the surf and skipping rocks, when he suddenly froze.
He couldn't tell whether he just imagined it or if it really had happened.
But then he saw it again.
A dark shade underneath the surface out in the open, gliding fast and agile through the water. Some kind of animal? A whale maybe? Or a shark? Or some kind of water-dragon?
Whatever it was, it sent shivers down his spine and he dropped the stones he was holding.
He shadow suddenly jerked around and headed his way.
He waded hastily back to the dry land.
When he turned around the shadow was gone.
"That was scary." He muttered.
Then the screams started.